Hermit Reunited

(thank you to @asaara-writes and @liulyam for helping with the translations!)

Renoir was already a painter before meeting Aline and had a habit of staying in canvases for too long due to his creative passion, described explicitly as a tendency towards self-destruction.

Aline came from a more noble family than Renoir.

Alicia was the main victim of the writer's plot and Verso died in the fire while trying to rescue her.

Aline is consumed by guilt for failing to protect her children and Alicia's state after the fire haunts her mind for her inability to help her youngest.

Before the fire, Aline is described as dreamy, charming, passionate, and a little stubborn. She exudes a natural aura of leadership and confidence, interspersed with deep sadness and a cold determination.

Aline painted Verso first, and then Renoir. Lumière was created to give the Painted family a sense of normality and to give Verso a "beautiful and healthy living environment."

There is a cardinal rule for Painters in the real world where creating a copy of a real person, especially without their knowledge or consent, is considered an ethical violation.

Family is ... complicated.

His family lives closed away in a manor or up on the Reacher, but he lives in a hut with the magical creatures. Humans children Expeditioners come to his Never Never Land and steal his breath and then melt away like snowflakes, but he stays the same. He's Peter Pan but not. Grown yet never aging.

Or he's Christopher Robin--forever wandering the Seven Acre Woods, talking to the same animal friends for a century and nothing changes but everything gets worse.

What do you do when the world was made for someone almost exactly like you, but not you? The world wraps its arms around you, accepting you anyway, but you're not a child. You're a grownup and this world is too small somehow but also too painful. It's dying when you are not. But you can't think about that because you're worried about adult things like family and duty and sacrifice and secrets.

I find it beautiful that Verso was created to fill an emotional gulf for Aline, but he was such a true mirror to "Verso" that he ends up filling that emotional gulf for the painting.

Your big sister doesn't recognize you. Your mother's eldest daughter Painted her over. She attacks you if you go near her. You miss her. She doesn't know to miss you.

Your little sister can't speak and hides her face and you love her. She is beautiful behind the mask your mother forces her to wear. She hides her face in your father's chest.

Your little sister is hell-bent on killing your father because he killed her brother, but he didn't kill you. She doesn't know you. She knew you before you were created. You know her. You have never met her. You would die for her. You have died for her. She would die for you. You have to stop her from dying for you.

You’re her big brother but your little sister is dead. She’s your little sister but her big brother is dead. She killed your little sister. She is your little sister and she killed herself but she also killed a stranger. She didn’t let you say goodbye. You get to yell at her for not letting you say goodbye to her. This is a privilege. She apologizes. It doesn't change anything. She killed herself and you wish you could kill yourself. You’re jealous your little sister got to die. You’re jealous your little sister gets to live. She killed herself and she won't kill you.

You're her big brother and she dies in your arms even though she's not your little sister and you died before her anyway. Her death is slower than your little sister's, so you get to speak to her. You get to tell her everything will be okay. You never got to tell your little sister everthing will be okay before she died. You weren't able to hold your little sister when she died. You held and rocked your little sister when she died.

Your parents had two daughters and one son. Two daughters and one son died in that canvas but their eldest daughter didn't. She wasn't there when you or your sisters died. You're her little brother. She doesn't grieve for you. She grieves for her little brother. Both your little sisters are dead, but your big sister doesn't grieve for them. She has her little sister within arm's reach.

"traitor"